Newbie looking for guidence

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HI all, I am sure this question has been asked many, many times, so if you point me to a thread that address this I would not mind, since in my digging I could not find what I was looking for. I am not in full-time ministry, I went to few mission trips and believe this is where Lord will call me to at some point in my life. My discipler told me that one of the requirements of serving as a lead in the mission teams is to be able to rightly divide the Word of God. Through some research I came across Logos and based on advice from few of my brothers in Christ and my pastor I went ahead and purchased it. Now that I have this tool I can see that it can do so many things, but I am quite frankly overwhelmed. I purchased a Platinum package with World biblical commentary based on the advice from the Logos sales person. I also purchased 4 part course from the Logos Pro team, and it is helping somewhat and have been considering Camp training courses by MP Seminars.

What is the best structured way for someone who is a newbie to studying the Word of God to learn how to use this tool, but more importantly to learn how to study the Bible in a God honoring way? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Your brother in Christ, Alex.

Most people have different ways on how they learn, as for me I been using Logos after getting Logos 4 back about seven years ago, it is hard to believe I have used it this long now.

But as to how I have picked up understanding of Logos, first i watched many free logos training videos check these at the following link https://www.logos.com/logos-pro also you can search for Logos Webinar on youtube.com many on these are very good.

Last use the Logos Forums to ask any question if you need help, also check questions other have asked because you will find that it helps you.

Edited: note one other nice thing is that access to the forums is 24/7 that is nice if you are having problems.

There is a free Bible study course by John Piper that, from what I can tell, will not show you so much how to use Logos for Bible study but does illustrate some Bible study strategies. Of course, not everyone necessarily agrees with John Piper's theology and I don't know to what extent it affect his exegesis in this course. Fans will probably tell you it's great:

What is the best structured way for someone who is a newbie to studying the Word of God to learn how to use this tool

First, welcome to the forums.

Second, in my opinion (and I've been using Logos since L3), you *can't* learn all of it. Even if you are an expert at multiple ancient languages, I don't think you can learn to use all the tools in Logos. And also in my opinion, the sooner you accept that you can't learn it all, the better. You'll want to focus on what you can/need to use and not lose sleep over all the stuff you really don't need to use.

Third, you'll need a place to ask questions, and you've already found that here on the forums.

Fourth, as you've already discovered, you'll need some external training. The software is not well-documented (there's never been a manual, for example, and never will be), though the help files continue to develop into more a helpful resource. But they are NOT training. In my own experience, I've found three sources of training that have been very helpful. You've already discovered one of them, Mo Proctor's Camp Logos. But don't buy the materials without first going to an actual event. Fair warning: these can be expensive, especially if you have to pay for travel expenses like plane tickets and motels/meals. I attended one of these back in 2009 and benefitted a great deal. But I threw down close to a grand in costs and expenses.

The other two options are much cheaper. They include a Udemy.com class by Danny Zacharias and the learnlogos.com system from John Fallahee. The former is more concise and cheaper (you can almost always find a Udemy.com course sale for $10). The latter is very, very extensive, but will cost a bit more (last time I checked, he was running a sale for around $60).

Fifth, Logos can actually interfere with your bible study if you aren't careful. You can get so wrapped around the axle of trying to learn to use the software that you stop reading the bible, stop thinking through what you've read, etc. This is an easy trap to fall into, so be warned! I equate this phenomena with what I call the "new driver" phenomenon in golf. That's where someone who hits a bad slice about 200 yards goes out and buys a four-hundred dollar, state-of-the-art driver rather than go to the range and buy a bucket of balls. They can now hit a bad slice about 300 yards. If you don't pay attention to your focus, Logos can do the same thing. You'll end up acquiring resources rather than studying scripture and will get lost in the thinking that as long as I keep buying stuff, my spiritual life must be fine. In reality, it ain't. Recall the story of Simon Magus and remember that the blessings of God's word can't be bought, nor can a strong spiritual life. If you find yourself trying to alleviate frustrations with the software and your bible study by buying more and more resources, realize you are in a dangerous place.

Finally, keep focused on the main thing and don't lose your passion for God's word and you'll be fine, whether or not you ever learn to use this software. The church did just fine without this thing for two thousand years. Don't lose sight of that if you struggle to learn the software.

Blessings!

My thanks to the various MVPs. Without them Logos would have died early. They were the only real help available.

As has been said, everyone learns differently, and there are many resources available for becoming more familiar with Logos. The Logos Pro videos are well done, as are other videos available on Youtube. The Morris Proctor seminars are excellent. There are also many helpful videos by John Fallahee at learnlogos.com.

I've found that starting with the Bible itself and asking, "What do I want to do/learn?" is helpful. Do I want to do a Word Study, or explore the background of a passage? Do I want to search for a topic or see what the commentaries say? Many things can be done via the right-click menu. It's worth taking time just exploring the different options available there.

The program can be overwhelming, but as has also been said, the forums are good places to ask questions. Have fun and God bless.

What is the best structured way for someone who is a newbie to studying the Word of God to learn how to use this tool, but more importantly to learn how to study the Bible in a God honoring way?

Welcome

Best way depends on your learning style and goals. Using Logos effectively for Bible Study takes time to learn, use, and master. Thankful for Camp Logos, which included insight about making "mistakes" so go back and improve usage. My favorite feature is visual filter highlighting so can "see" range of Greek verbal expression in English (and other languages) in Bibles with reverse interlinear tagging. Greek has a more expressive verbal system than English. Part of my text observation is seeing Greek verbal nuances. Logos wiki has => Examples of visual filters Thankful for Faithlife enabling free sharing of visual filters (and other documents).

Francis:

Logos has put together a course on Jonah that is intended to illustrate how to use the software for Bible study (and to that extent, how to do Bible study).

Thank you Doc B for your insight. I especially share concern on the 5th topic. The one thing that I have learned to do is my morning devotions are only based on the Word and prayer. I do not use any commentaries or any other tools during that time. One question I have for you on the MP Logos Camp, do they give you DVDs as part of attending in person training? Also, should I first spend sometime with Logos, forums, wiki, etc. and then go, or would someone as new as myself benefit from it right away?

Thank you Doc B for your insight. I especially share concern on the 5th topic. The one thing that I have learned to do is my morning devotions are only based on the Word and prayer. I do not use any commentaries or any other tools during that time. One question I have for you on the MP Logos Camp, do they give you DVDs as part of attending in person training? Also, should I first spend sometime with Logos, forums, wiki, etc. and then go, or would someone as new as myself benefit from it right away?

Morris has two camps that run consecutively every day. Camp 1 is for newbies like yourself and goes in the morning. It is made for people with little or no experience using Logos In the afternoon is Camp 2 and it is for the more advance users, but you will still benefit from it. I would sign up for both. There are people wandering around while Morris is teaching and they will help you if you are in a fog about what's being taught. There are no DVD's but syllabus books that are very through. Make notes as you go in the book and it will help jog your memory.

should I first spend sometime with Logos, forums, wiki, etc. and then go, or would someone as new as myself benefit from it right away?

I don't know you and your learning style, so I can't really answer that directly. I do think in general the sessions would be helpful to most, even if they were new to Logos, but personally I'd want some more experience with the software before attending the second session.

My thanks to the various MVPs. Without them Logos would have died early. They were the only real help available.